# AI Value and Cost Worksheet

Choose value measures, establish a baseline, and count delivery and operating costs.

Built Into Work | Vic Akosile | Version 1.0 | October 5, 2026

For: Sponsors, product owners, and finance partners
Use when: Before the build and at the outcome review
Suggested time: 25 minutes

Use synthetic or authorized information. Keep sensitive work in approved tools. A named person owns each decision. These tools support discussion and planning; they are not validated assessments.

## 1. Choose the value that matters

Use the seven layers: efficiency, scale, quality, experience, risk, capability, and financial impact. Select only those relevant to this workflow.

### Workflow and outcome

What result matters, and to whom?

Your response:

________________________________________________________________

### Priority measures

Choose a small set with units, data source, owner, and case mix.

Your response:

________________________________________________________________

### Baseline

What happens today, over which period, and how reliable is the evidence?

Your response:

________________________________________________________________

### Target and period

What useful improvement would justify continuing?

Your response:

________________________________________________________________

## 2. Account for effort and spending

Count each benefit once. Time released is capacity unless spending actually changes. Compare benefits and costs over the same period.

### Capacity calculation

Volume × minutes saved ÷ 60. State the assumptions.

Your response:

________________________________________________________________

### Financial mechanism

What actual change in spending or revenue connects to the benefit?

Your response:

________________________________________________________________

### One-time costs

Build, integration, change, training, and evaluation effort?

Your response:

________________________________________________________________

### Recurring costs

Tools, usage, support, monitoring, maintenance, and human review?

Your response:

________________________________________________________________

### Observed result and decision

Complete after the review; distinguish measured results from targets.

Your response:

________________________________________________________________

### Owner and review date

Who owns the evidence and next decision?

Your response:

________________________________________________________________

## Completed companion example

All organizations, workflows, numbers, and results in these examples are fictional and provided for learning. Targets are proposed decision criteria, not validated standards or promised outcomes.

**Workflow and outcome**
Routine policy questions receive supported answers with less total active handling effort.

**Priority measures**
Active handling minutes per question; corrected claims per reviewed draft; missed escalations.

**Baseline**
Illustrative baseline: 15 minutes per routine question, including specialist review.

**Target and period**
Illustrative target: 9 minutes for the same case mix, with supported citations and defined escalations preserved.

**Capacity calculation**
Assume 300 questions/month × (15 - 9) minutes ÷ 60 = 30 hours/month of capacity.

**Financial mechanism**
None established. Do not call the 30 hours cash savings.

**One-time costs**
Illustrative: $3,000 including assigned delivery and training effort.

**Recurring costs**
Illustrative: $250/month incremental tool and support cost; review time is included in handling minutes.

**Observed result and decision**
Not yet measured. Owner will compare the same case mix before making an expansion decision.

**Owner and review date**
Service-desk lead with finance partner; two weeks after the pilot starts.

## Working record

Owner:
Review date:
Decision:
Evidence still needed:

Original guide: https://builtinto.work/resources/value-and-cost